The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-23
SEA DOGS Banks.
Stories of the Deep Blue Sea, Showing
That All is Not Music in It's Roar

That All is Not Music in It's Roar
Firm the Ne,o Orleans Times Democrat.
The offices of the branch United States
photographic Office and the New Orleans
Maritime Association are in the same build
ing in the Varieties alley The two COM
bined draw together all the local seamen,
ex-seamen and visiting seamen that drop
this in way
The assembled collection on various occa-
sions present an aggregation of characters
never seen outside of just such knot of jolly
old tars. When the humor finds them in
the mood it is many fine and thrilling tale
that they tell, with animation and gusto,
too.
One day last week when the thermometer
was wrestling with the hundreds, and there
was nothing to do but see who could tell the
biggest yarns and warmest stories, two old
retired sea captains dropped in and joined
| in the contest. The subject drifted off to
adventures and strange happenings of the
sea. One old fellow with the smell of salt
water still about him, just back from trip
around the Horn, shifted his cud and wanted
to know if anyone ever solved the mystery
of the brig Mary Celeste. THAT" said he,
twas about the most incomprehensible
thing that ever came under my ken. 1t
was along about rs, or thereabouts that
the Mary Celeste sailed from New York for
Gibraltar with a cargo of petroleum.
About two months afterward she was pick
ed up between the Western Indies and Glib
raltar. Every sail was set and Tapping in
the wind; the captains cabin was in perfect
order, his money on the table, his wifes
sewing machine open as if it had just been
used; but not a soul anywhere. Nobody
could ever imagine or give any reason for
her strange abandonment; nothing was
heard, from that day to this, of single
member of the crew, although the govern
ment offered time and again 5000 for any
member of the missing crew. That brig
is sailing out OF New York to-day, and when
ever ! see her arrival in any of the papers l
always wonder what has become of those
who sailed her away from there ten years
ago.
YES" said Capt. Boulanger, another old
salt. strange things do happen. ! remem-
Der when | was down at Panama, and the
bark Petty, Capt. Henry, was at anchor
there. He was a man who had a bad name
as regular sundowner, and before he left
it was clearly shown One night nine of his
crew abandoned that ship and swan four
miles to the shore, when everybody knows
that Panama Bay Swarms with sharks.
Well, every one of them got ashore all
right, and that man had to leave for Callao
short-handed. He followed us down there,
and came in two weeks after we had anchor
gu, u TOuSneG you never
saw. He hadn't been out from Panama
three days when the crew began to take
down with yellow fever. He says that the
last he remembers was the steward putting
poultice on his breast, and when he came
to that pOultice was still there, calSed hard
and dry. He staggered up the hatchway
and looked up; there the ship was going
along easy on the port tack, under lower
topsails and jib, the foreSail hauled up, and
not a soul about the decks. He looked aft
and saw the wheel dashed. Presently an
old sailor with a stub of pipe in his mouth,
came wandering aft, and took a look at the
compass. When he spoke to him the old
fellow thought he was ghost, but he reas-
sured him, and found out that this old man
and the cook were the only ones that were
not down with the fever. Well sir, they
worked that ship into Callao, and you can
bet that from that time on that skipper was
a changed man. He took the Petty around
TO Boston, and there wasn't another master
there with a better name"
81 remember said a tall, raw-boned chap
''the time the crew of the ship Ann Alexan-
der was picked up off Cape Good Hope
They had started out with two Malays in
the crew, and these two scoundrels had
taken a spite against all hands: so one night
they got the crew barricaded in the fore
castle, knocked the captain down and put
him below. The captain was a strong fell
low, and as soon as he recovered he man
mayed to get on deck with a gun and make
for them. They had set fire to the vessel,
and, as they saw no further chance for
them, they jumped on the rail, shook their
fists at the captain in impotent rage and
jumped overheard The crew had TO aban-
don the ship, and were picked up by us in
half-starved condition.
go come off, ''said some skeptical land
lubber; "let's go get drink"
That seemed to take them all fat aback
so they wore short round for the nearest
saloon, and when last seen were heaving
down.